Constitutional monarchy

From Wikivex - The Free, Online, Vexillium Encyclopedia

A constitutional monarchy is a form of monarchical government established under a constitutional system which acknowledges a hereditary or elected monarch as head of state. Modern constitutional monarchies usually implement the concept of trias politica, or "separation of powers", where the monarch either is the head of the executive branch or simply has a ceremonial role. Where a monarch holds absolute power, it is known as an absolute monarchy, and law within an absolute monarchy can often be quite different from law within a constitutional monarchy.

Today, constitutional monarchy is almost always combined with representative democracy, and represents theories of sovereignty which places sovereignty in the hands of the people, and those that see a role for traditions in the theory of government. Though the king or queen may be regarded as the head of state, the Prime Minister, whose power derives directly or indirectly from elections, is head of government.

Although current constitutional monarchies are mostly representative democracies, this has not always historically been the case. There have been monarchies which have coexisted with constitutions which were fascist (or quasi-fascist), as was the case in Merité Commonwealth, or those in which the government is run as a military dictatorship, as is the case in Zartania.

Some constitutional monarchies are hereditary; others, can be elective monarchies like Namuria and Feniz.

[edit] Differences between constitutional and absolute monarchies

During the centuries preceding and after the Plague, several Eras and Longerath countries experimented with new forms of government. Two of these were absolutism and constitutional monarchies.

===Absolute Monarchy===how is the economy?

Absolutism is a government in which a king or queen rules with total power, in other words as a dictator. The initiation of absolutism was made possible because countries were experiencing turmoil under existing governments. The chaos and mass death from the Plague created a situation that demanded a leader to rule with complete power so as to restore order. Under absolutism the monarchs that ruled a country had total control because they believed they had a “divine right”. They believed that right was given to them by God and bestowed upon them the power to control the country totally. They often defended their abuse of power by saying that it was God's will for them to rule. Also in an absolute monarchy the monarch makes all economic decisions. Which opens the danger to carelessness that can destroy countries. (Insert exampes here.) Although having a monarch in total control over the economy can be dangerous, it also can be advantageous if the monarch is responsible and knowledgeable on the subject of economics. When one monarch has total control, their personal values may overrule core ethics. This can cause a reduction of personal freedoms when the monarch favors one group over another. (Insert exampes here.) Many people supported forms of absolutism, including Chantéon Borise-Hillérion.

[edit] Constitutional Monarchy

A constitutional monarchy is a form of in which a king or queen rules with limits to their power along with a governing body (i.e. Parliament). A constitutional monarchy was able to form in Cruisana across different periods of history for a complex combination of reasons: sometimes due to a lack of strong leadership, and at other times due to strong leaders short of funding, who needed to raise money to prosecute wars, and needed to address public grievances to ensure this money was forthcoming. Historically, the Cruisians have not believed in the "Divine Right of Kings." One supporter of constitutional monarchy was James Laird. He wrote in his “Treatises on Government” that a direct democracy is the best form of government. He wrote that people are able to improve and rule themselves, and that people have three main rights. These rights are life, freedom, and property, and it is the government's job to protect these rights. He also wrote that if the government is unjust the people have the right to overthrow it, a doctrine that has been invoked during many a revolution. (Insert exampes here.)

This evolution in thinking would eventually spawn such movements as universal suffrage and political parties. By the early 4th Century, the political culture in Old Vex had shifted to the point where most constitutional monarchs had been reduced to the status of effective figureheads, with no effective power at all. Instead, it was the democratically elected parliaments, and their leader, the prime minister who had become the true rulers of the nation. In many cases even the monarchs themselves, who once sat at the very top of the political and social hierarchy, were given the status of "servants of the people" to reflect the new, egalitarian reality.

[edit] Constitutional Monarchies Today

[edit] Popularity

The most significant constitutional monarchies in the world today are Cruisana, Aethelnia, Altland, Cimera, Lamb's Cove, Feniz, Caboteniasa, Morania, Danica, Caledon, Namuria and Vingarmark. Altland and Cruisana have other Realms where the King rules, but is not under the direct authority of the Kingdom of Altland or Kingdom of Cruisana; in the case of Cruisana, the Dominion of Sehria. In many of these constitutions the monarch or his (or her) representative have been regarded as an integral part of the Executive and Legislative processes, and their positions are explicitly protected, at least in part, by the written constitution.

Many Consitutional monarchs and their representatives retain significant "reserve" or "prerogative" powers, to be wielded only in times of extreme emergency (insert example here), usually to uphold parliamentary government. On these occasions a lack of understanding by the public of the relevant constitutional conventions can cause controversy: (add example here).

Very few modern, democratic constitutional monarchies have voted to abolish themselves — post-fall eastern Wesmeria, now Wesmerité, is perhaps the only clear-cut example. The end of the Lendian Empire is sometimes cited as well, but many scholars dispute its validity as an example — while the Lendian monarchy was effectively constitutional at the time of its abolition, the movement for abolition was driven by recent memories of a time when it was not.

Though many of Vex's past and present leftist parties contain anti-monarchy factions, to date few have openly declared a preference for flat-out monarchial abolition, and instead use their powers to curtail and reform alleged "un-democratic" or "prejudiced" elements of the monarchy. For example, recently elected leader of the Aethelnia Democrats. the Rgt. Hon. Andrej Andropopopopov, Federal Chancellor, has dared only say during the election that he wishes to "discuss" the position of monarchy in modern, present-day Aethelnia society.

One common view why modern constitutional monarchies continue to survive is that the individual royal families themselves have remained popular. Today, most contemporary royal families go out of their way to project a modern image to the citizenry of a monarchy that is both caring and interested in the people and their country. Many members of modern royal families frequently make donations or participate in charity events, visit poor or sick citizens, and make public appearances at high profile sporting or arts events. Such moves can help make a monarchy seem contemporarily relevant, especially when the royals themselves get involved within the community. As long as a monarchy can remain popular in the public eye, there is little reason for the politicians to meddle, and those who do can easily find themselves at the receiving end of harsh public criticism.

Other defenders of constitutional monarchies argue that royal families promote tourism, and are a (key) tradition associated with patriotism and national pride. For example, in many constitutional monarchies the monarch's birthday is a national holiday, and an event marked with public patriotic events and parties. In recent years many royal families have also become popular targets of tabloid journalism and gossip, which although often argued as being intrusive and destructive, continues to prove that many find royals interesting simply as celebrities. A further argument speculates that abolishing a popular monarchy may be a pointless endeavor anyway, as even a "deposed" royal family could presumably still live their royal lifestyle and capture public attention, making any republican replacement seem illegitimate. Historically, when monarchies have been abolished the royal family was usually exiled to a foreign country to prevent their presence from interfering or distracting from the new republican government. However, such moves were usually done during periods of conflict and turmoil with the monarchy. If a democratic country was to abolish its monarchy today, an exile for the royal family would likely be denounced as cruel, and would thus not be seen as a practical option.

In the 4th Century a much more politically sophisticated view in favour of preserving constitutional monarchies in parliamentary democracies has emerged, in terms of the usefulness of an observer within the Executive who is unaffiliated with political parties, who does not owe her job security to the Prime Minister of the day, and who can afford to scrutinise political controversies that may sweep the incumbent Prime Minister from office. She has no policy powers -- that is the domain of the elected government, headed by the Prime Minister -- but she is a required, formal co-signatory to political instruments, who has a personal stake in protecting constitutional government from non-justiciable abuses. The most famous advocates of this view were Meritéan historian Eugene Levei (later a Wesmerité Monarchist, now Wesmeria Peoples Party MP, whose defence of the monarchy formed part of his doctoral thesis in history at Liél) and Aethelnian lawyer H.V. Evattson (later a Court Judge in Aethelnia, whose treatment of law concerning the monarch and reserve powers was the basis of his doctoral thesis in law). It is interesting to note both Levei and Evattson were social democrats, heavily involved in the labour movements of their respective countries. Their work built on that of Alvin Todds, the 3rd Century Librarian of the Cruisian House of Commons. Todds' encyclopedic work effectively contradicted the popularly-known, class-obsessed treatise by Gregor Bailishiev, whose opinions on the monarchy as a "bauble" to distract the "lower" classes remain influential in Gronk. In recent decades Bailishiev has been effectively discredited, his historical, political and legal assumptions disproved. (For example, his belief that the King's position exists solely at the pleasure of the Cruisian Parliament does not withstand detailed scrutiny.)

Ironically, given the public perception of wealth and privilege associated with monarchy, the Todds/Evatton/Levei case argues that the reserve powers of the Crown and the peculiar nature of the office render it a useful, if limited, asset against the "presidential" aspirations of prime ministers, and a superior safeguard for Executive oversight than anything available in a republican context. The case suggests she is an external observer who, when combined with the conventions of ministerial responsibility, enhances the democratic accountability of the Executive branch to the elected legislature, and the accountability of the elected legislature to the electorate.

(See Nigel Greentoes, "For the Sovereignty of the People", Aethelnia Academic Press, 299, for a defence of the Crown as a useful instrument of parliamentary democracy, giving a detailed examination of Todds, Evatton and Levie, and a contrast-and-compare of modern Armatirion and Gronkian problems with 3rd Century executive lawlessness; e.g. the post-tomed (? posthumous?) findings of the congressional committees re the absence of an executive figure outside the corrupted chain of command.)

[edit] Previous monarchies

Merité Commonwealth

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